Anthony Bourdain, you fool.

Last night on tv I watched Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations on the Travel Channel. I usually like him because 1) he's blunt, which means 2) he says whatever he feels like, 3) travels around with a drunk Russian who is funny and 4) usually visits some pretty cool places. Well, last night's episode was about the Rust Belt and included visits to Baltimore, Detroit, and Buffalo. I was very disappointed with the portrayal of Buffalo, even though I think the city is a hole.

And here's why:

Everyone knows, or should know, Detroit and Buffalo are comparable to 3rd world countries, at least parts of the cities are. Other parts can be ok (I'm not going to say nice) and yes, the "Rust Belt" is a good reference. This show did not show any of the "nicer" parts of the city. First of all they came in January, the bleakest time of the year. Buffalo has many, many huge trees that decorate the city but we did not get to see them. They showed the old General Mills silo that has been shut down for years, among other closed down buildings.

This is one of the reasons I dislike the city, the numerous empty houses/buildings. But on the opposite of the spectrum, there are many houses/buildings that have been preserved and are very nice. Such as:

Frank Lloyd Wright's Martin House

Louis Sullivan's Guaranty Building

Henry Hobson Richardson's Buffalo State Asylum for the Insane

Alfred T. Fellheimer & Steward Wagner's Central Terminal

Yes, most of the city is very old and run down. But some of it has been restored. Instead of showing these architectural goldmines, they show the dingy, beat down part of the city.

The next reason I did not like the show was because of the places he chose to eat. Yes, Buffalo is known for the Buffalo Chicken Wing and all sorts of pizza. There is even a Chicken Wing Festival every year. The birthplace of the Buffalo is the Anchor Bar, which in my opinion doesn't even have the best chicken wings in town. But Anthony didn't even dine on any chicken wings. Come on! The places he did choose to dine aren't even the best places to eat in town. He went to Schwabl's for Beef on Weck and Ulrich's for Liver Dumpling Soup. Really? This is what you choose to eat?!

He could have had:

A Chicken Finger Sub from John's

Wings from Duff's

Beef on Weck from Charlie the Butcher

Not to mention anything on the menu at Pearl Street

or Fat Bob's

And finally, the last reason I was upset with this show is the fact that the only reason they came to Buffalo was because some weird ass, washed out, rocker dude made a video telling Anthony Bourdain how much he loved him and wanted him to visit Buffalo. Wouldn't you find this kind of creepy? This dude, Nelson Starr (obviously a fake name, he couldn't come up with a better rocker name?) took Anthony and Zamir to Nietzche's on Allen Street to hear his band play. This could possibly be the trashiest/dirtiest bar/club in Buffalo. Nice way to show off the city you love. I was excited to see the show and in the end I was very upset with Anthony Bourdain. But, I guess I shouldn't be upset with him, he doesn't know any better. This rocker wannabe, Mr Starr, has ruined it.